Road Work Ahead

19% of Roads in Bali’s Capital of Denpasar Classified as ‘Badly Damaged’

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(1/1/2012)

It will not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with traveling in Denpasar that much of the roads in Bali’s capital are in a poor state of repair.

The Bali Post reports that of the 555.076 kilometers of road in Denpasar, 106,525 (19%) are considered to be “badly damaged.”

The head of the Public Works Department for Denpasar, Ir. I Ketut Winarta, told The Bali Post that money has been allocated to improve road conditions over the coming year.

Wayan Dirgayasa, the head of Bali’s Bina Karya – the State-Owned company that works in the area of public construction and technical consultation – insists that the overall condition of Denpasar’s roads is better than those found in other regions of Indonesia. By his calculations, the amount of roadway classified as “good” in the capital is 293.651 kilometers (52%) while 154.901 (28%) kilometers were classified as “good” or “serviceable.”

Dirgayasa confirmed that Rp. 39 billion (US$4.3 million) had been allocated in the 2012 budget for road repair and improvement in Denpasar in 2012. “In accordance with our plans, roads will be improved over a length of 40.526 kilometers while another 49.8 kilometers are slated for repair. This means that there are still badly damaged road areas that will not be repaired in the coming year," explained Dirgayasa.

Dirgayasa blamed the bad state of Bali’s roads on the overloading of trucks traveling over the capital’s roads.

He also cited how many government departments tear up Denpasar’s roads and highways for the installation of public sewerage, drains and other installations, but fails to return the roads to their original conditions once their work is completed.